All articles by James Halliwell – Page 13
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NewsAlbert Bartlett “extremely excited” about Spudulike
Albert Bartlett has said it’s “extremely excited” about its acquisition of eight Spudulike sites and the “opportunity for Albert Bartlett to enhance its offer with a move into the ‘food-to-go’ sector”. Richard Quinn, Albert Bartlett’s MD – Portfolio, said Albert Bartlett’s “heritage, vision and best-in-class potatoes” makes it “uniquely placed to develop a future-forward offering that resonates with today’s consumers.
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OpinionWhy Pizza Express is worth saving
There are many theories why Pizza Express, the largest casual dining chain in the UK with 490 sites, has slid into such a massive pile of debt.
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NewsProfits down at Pret A Manger but sales up
Pre-tax profits at Pret fell from £64.9m to £48.8m for the year ending 3 January 2019, a drop of 25%. However, sales were up 12% to £710m compared to £636.7m the year before. The business said Pret planned to continue delivering consistent like for like growth by focusing on innovating its menu, growth of day-parts, increased brand awareness, operations and expansion.
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NewsCalorie cap is impractical and unfair says UK Hospitality
UK Hospitality has said any proposed calorie cap for out-of-home eating and drinking is a “knee-jerk, impractical and unfair measure”. It follows a report by the chief medical officer which contains proposals aimed at tackling childhood obesity, including a calorie cap per serving of food and drink and a review of VAT rates on food and drink. “A blanket cap on calories for all portions of food and drink consumed out-of-home sounds like a knee-jerk, impractical and unfair measure,” said UK Hospitality CEO Kate Nicholls.
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NewsAlbert Bartlett to save Spudulike
Albert Bartlett has reopened eight Spudulike outlets and slashed prices. The potato giant moved in to revive the Spudulike brand in Livingston, Manchester, York, Glasgow, Greenhithe, Norwich, Bridgend and Leeds. A total of 37 stores originally closed down in August. A statement on its website read: “We’re excited to announce that Spudulike is back. If you’d been missing your favourite baked potato fix, you can now find us again at selected shopping centres across the UK.
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NewsSay hello to the newest version of Yo!
When Yo! Sushi arrived in the UK in 1997 it was everything casual dining wants to be in 2019. Colourful, fun, innovative and fresh, it also had entertainment on the side thanks to the novel kaiten conveyor belt that served up plates of food. Remarkably, the novelty hasn’t worn off, even after 22 years. Yo!, which dropped the ‘Sushi’ from its name in September to send a message to the squeamish that it offered more than just raw fish, reported a UK sales hike of 5% to £88.9m in July.
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NewsGusto serves up a rise in sales and profits
Gusto has revealed a £0.1m rise in sales for the year ending 31 March 2019, which it hailed as a “very good performance” in a pressurised market. Pre-tax profits also rose to £138k following a loss of £544k the previous year. It said the business had been “galvanised” following “heavy investment in brand, menu development, food quality and provenance, as well as improved team training, tight operational controls and the continued development of out of restaurant sales”.
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NewsWages already on track to exceed chancellors target
Average hourly wages in the hospitality industry are on track to hit £10.60 over the next five years, slightly ahead of the target of £10.50 by 2024 announced by the chancellor last week. Wages have consistently grown annually by 4% since the NLW was introduced in 2016. And although Sajid Javid also announced plans to lower the age threshold for qualification for the NLW from 25 to 21, the gap between the two has also diminished over the last three years and now sits at £8.70 and £8.55, respectively.
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NewsBurger & Lobster ‘pleased’ despite ‘challenging environment’
Burger & Lobster has revealed a 10% drop in sales from £42.2m to £37.9m in 2018, due primarily to the sale of its Manchester site. Overall EBITDA was £5.7m, down from £6.2m in 2017, which the business said was due to a “challenging operational environment in London for casual dining”. However it said gross profit margin was up from 61% to 65% which the business said was the result of “better labour and food and beverage cost” controls.
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NewsHas the chancellor got the balance right with the NLW?
There was bad news for hospitality at the Conservative party conference this week. The industry is under pressure from many angles, but on Tuesday chancellor Sajid Javid announced plans to take one of the more acute pressure points, the National Living Wage, and increase it from its current rate of £8.21 to £10.50 inside five years. That’s a potential 28% hike by 2024, or an average 5.6% hit on the bottom line every year.
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NewsSales soar at Deliveroo but profits fall again
Deliveroo’s profits have taken another hit following another year of heavy investment and expansion. After revealing pre-tax losses of £199m in 2017, the online delivery outfit said pre-tax losses had fallen further to £232m for the year to 31 December 2018. The business said it had “continued to invest heavily” in its service in order to fund further expansion in terms of restaurant numbers in existing markets, including the UK where it plans to launch in another 50 towns and cities in 2019.
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NewsBurger King ‘milkshake’ tweet branded irresponsible
The ASA has said a tweet by Burger King was irresponsible and warned it must ensure its ”future marketing communications did not condone or encourage anti-social behaviour.” On 18 May 2019 Burger King sent a tweet which read: “Dear people of Scotland. We’re selling milkshakes all weekend. Have fun. Love BK. #justsaying”.
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NewsMore growth for Greggs
Greggs has revealed 7.4% increase in like for like sales for the 13 weeks to September 28, 2019. Total sales were up 13.9% and the business opened a net total of 56 shops. Greggs said the business “continued to trade very strongly in the third quarter. As expected, the rate of year-on-year sales growth moderated as we came up against stronger comparative sales from the previous year, but sales were still up strongly, driven predominantly by growth in customer numbers.”
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NewsUpping the NLW threatens “double whammy” for the industry
Sayid Javid has announced plans to raise the National Living Wage from its current rate of £8.21 to £10.50 inside five years. Speaking at the Conservative Party Conference, the chancellor also revealed plans to lower the age threshold in order for employees to qualify for the NLW from 25 to 21, saying the move would “help the next generation of go-getters to get ahead”. But UKHospitality CEO Kate Nicholls said the announcement ”threatens a double whammy
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NewsJamie’s profits plunge following restaurant collapse
Jamie Oliver has revealed the scale of the impact the collapse of his restaurant group had on his overall business interests. Pre-tax profits at his businesses, made up of Jamie Oliver Holdings, Jamie Oliver Licensing and Jamie’s Italian International, almost halved by 46%, from £14.4m to £7.8m. The business said its profits were “impacted by exceptional costs of £9.9m in the year related to the restaurant group.”
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NewsRevolution reveals drop in profits as it builds for the future
Revolution Bars has revealed a fall in profits for the 52 weeks ended 29 June 2019, after exceptional items of £7.1m and bar opening costs of £1.5 million delivered a pre-tax loss of £5.6m. Like for like sales were also down 3.5%, but the business said they had improved over the period, from a 4% drop in H1, to a 2.9% drop in H2 and down 1.8% in Q4.
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NewsHubbox appoints first full time finance director
Hubbox has appointed Chris Hugo as its first full time finance director. Hugo joins Hubbox from Watergate Bay where he spent 16 years as Commercial and Finance Director. During his time at Watergate Bay sales grew from £2m to £19m. Hugo also oversaw the creation and financing of Beach Retreats self-catering holidays and Another Place Hotels. He was also founding director of Fifteen Cornwall.
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NewsSales hike for City Pub Group
The City Pub Group has revealed a sales uplift of 36% to £27.1m for the 26 weeks ended 30 June 2019. It said like for like sales were up 2.6% and pre-tax profits, adjusted for a share options charge and exceptional items, were up 19% to £1.9m.
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NewsSales up at Comptoir Group
Comptoir Group has revealed a 0.2% lift in sales for the six months ending 30 June 2019, from £15.7m to £15.8m. Gross profits were also up 2%, from 11.3m in 2018 to £11.5m. The group now owns and operates 25 restaurants and has four franchises. Non-executive chairman Richard Kleiner said the results showed that Comptoir Group “continues to prove its resilience in a challenging and uncertain market.
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NewsDeliveroo ad banned for being ‘misleading’
An ad for Deliveroo has been banned by the ASA after the advertising watchdog concluded it was misleading.